French woman with name sounding like al-Qaeda placed on US no-fly list

Aida Alic claims she was prevented from flying because her name, which appears
on her passport as Alic Aida, sounds like al-Qaeda

Aida Alic arrived at Geneva airport but was told by Swiss airline that they had received notice from US border authorities that she was barred from entering the countryPhoto: ALAMY

By Rory Mulholland, Paris

5:24PM BST 25 Apr 2014

A young French woman prevented from boarding a flight for New York this week says she has been blacklisted by the United States because her name, if pronounced wrongly, sounds like al-Qaeda.

Aida Alic, 33, arrived at Geneva airport on Wednesday with her husband and two children to set out on a US holiday but was told by Swiss airline that they had received notice from US border authorities that she was barred from entering the country.

The airline gave no further explanation and the family had to turn around and head back to their home near Chambery in the French Alps, 2,700 euros out of pocket for the lost airline tickets.

Ms Alic said that she later searched official US travel sites to find out why she was stopped and came to the conclusion that it was because of her name, which on her passport is written with her surname first, resulting in Alic Aida.

“Alic Aida, al-Qaeda. When friends make the play on words to wind me up, I am used to it, but not this,” Ms Alic, who was born in Bosnia but now has French nationality, told Le Dauphiné Libéré newspaper.

“Especially since my name is actually pronounced 'Alitch’. It is of Yugoslav origin. And now here I am labelled as a risk.” The US embassy in Paris said it did not comment on individual cases of people on the US no-fly list.

Ms Alic, who had painted her finger nails in the colours of the US flag ahead of her planned trip, says she plans to persist in her enquiries with US authorities to find out why she has been banned.